Flyers-Rangers in review

Gotta confess, I didn’t see the whole thing … saw the first period, then Rangers in 60, so feel free to correct me if I’m wrong (for the first time ever).

Thoughts:

1) I didn’t mind Dale Weise one bit. In fact, I liked the size he brought, I liked the willingness. He very nearly had a goal off the wing, and he had the disallowed (correctly) goal. And of course, any time that piece of carcillo absorbs punches, that’s like Christmas morning. I noticed Weise used the same method he employed in a preseason fight with Foligno of Ottawa, where he grabs the guy’s shirt collar with the left and, while loading up the right, gets in a few jabs with the fistful of shirt. Like it. A lot.

2) It seemed like Gaborik and Frolov had moments. But only moments. Frolov did have that one terrific shift that the Step-child turned into the only goal. I do think in games like this, they need to do more.

3) I don’t know if much was made of it, but I did catch a Brian Boyle hit that sent Hartnell to the bench in pain. That’s a shame.

4) I thought Dan Girardi took another step forward. He even played a 2-on-1 perfectly, taking away the pass and forcing the shot, which Lundqvist handled. That’s the way you do it (money for nothin’ …).

5) I’m really freakin’ excited about Festivus.

6) Not sure I like all that line-juggling off three straight wins. I understand the reasons for it, and that a few guys need a spark, but I am a tad superstitious and a bit of a believer in not fixing what ain’t broke. But what the hell do I know?

7) The Rangers are now 2-1 in games in which Chris Drury plays and doesn’t break anything.

8) That’s what you get with Zherdev, right? You never know.

9) Tough day for some of the young D-men. Or at least some difficult shifts.

10) Look at the bright side. The Rangers went 3-1 in a really difficult week, and Wade Redden’s not here.

125 Comments

Anyway. Wiese did well yesterday. I liked him. I made fun of him the other day because he appeared to lose all his fights on Hockeyfights website. Good for him. And good for Sather too. It’s nice to see that we have some kids with promise after a lot of lean years.

I didn’t mind him as a Ranger – late/post-season no-show aside – but the decision to walk away from the arbitration award was correct and you’ve got to think Torts would’ve wanted no piece of him had the question of re-signing him this past summer ever come up, regardless of Frolov.

Disagree on the Weise no-goal. Can understand why the on-ice ruling was not overturned, but thought the original call was wrong.

Maybe I should post some links of Zherdev’s playoff performance to put things back into perspective. If you want to say we shoulda stayed clear of Frolov fine but we don’t need to ponder one terrible Russian with one that’s terrible when it counts the most.

Weise may have learned that little grab and jab method from Shelley btw..He does that a lot.

Was at the game taking all kinds of abuse from the flyers faithful – wore the Jersey proud!

Tough game for the Rangers – could not get the puck into the zone when they needed to – also, Gabby and others were lost at times – I agree Carp – the line changes did not seem to work well. This was a game that could have gone either way –

Did any of you see Henrik during the last minutes of the third? He was PISSED – and rightly so I believe

Zherdev was a UFA once the Rangers walked away from the arbitrator’s ruling and no one took him. So they were not alone with concerns about his play. He could have signed with any team before this season and I think only the Flyers showed any interest.

If Gaborik is getting criticized with his inconsistent play (which is deserved for the past few weeks), mind you he’s 6th among active players in goals per game, then Zherdev would make him look like Prust.

Anytime I think of players that could/should be on the team, regardless of whether they were once on the team, available via free agency or trade, I put it in the context of who they’d be replacing on the current team. Would they be a top 6 forward? Are they going to take ice time away from Dubinsky, Callahan, Anisimov, Stepan? Are they better at playing in the trenches as Prust, Boyle? Would their contract be as economical as even someone like Fedetenko? Maybe Zherdev could play opposite Gaborik on the LW, but again the Rangers were not alone with taking a pass on signing him.

Yeah, that’s a nice rumor (or rumour) out of Edmonton (gee, that never happens). So, let’s say the story’s legit. All it means is that Sather was talking to Columbus, maybe about Tyutin, and the BJs asked about Del Zotto. Well, what team wouldn’t be interested in Del Zotto? It’s one of those poorly-conceived, conveniently written stories that might have a thread of truth, but there’s no bryzgalov way it was ever going to happen.

Turris is going to be a good player in this league Carp. I took one of those Sports management world wide courses a few years ago and all the scouting analysis was based around him at the time. He’s definitely got some skill. He just needs to eat his spinach.

Nice to see people not bashing our team after that loss last night. I didn’t think they played bad or without an effort. They lost to a much better and deeper, more talented team. It’s 4-1 or 4-2 in the playoffs at the moment. And Boucher was very good too. The mistakes they made( including MDZs and Roszival’s) were not lazy mistakes, they were forced by speedy forecheckers, or they were a product of attempted breakout passes. MDZ wasn’t the only one to attempt it last night, I think the coaches tried it as a strategy. Didn’t work. We are not ready for the Flyers. Yet.

I think Gaborik is hurt. He is trying to avoid any contact at the boards and in the corners, he releases the puck and gives it to his teammate to fight for. And if he is pushed into it, when he has no choice, he goes in right shoulder first. I observed it a few times last night. Should he sit? Not sure. He is still dangerous, and at the least, requires the opposing team to deploy their best D-pair.

I liked Weise even before he stepped on the ice because he replaced White :-). But I think he fits perfectly into this system. Strong, has some mean streak, goes hard to the net, forechecks etc. Anyone who can give some cook to Carcillo should do fine on the Rangers. He won’t replace Callahan, but he should stay for now.

LMAO @MZA for Tyutin. It would be similar to MZA for Nash. Maybe plus a second rounder.

“Screw Zherdev, he wouldn’t gel with the identity of this team, all he would do is frustrate us. But then again I see what you mean about Frolov”

LOL! That’s exactly what Frolov does, except he adds nothing to the team. He’s not scoring, he’s useless on the PP.

At least Z has creativity, and a good shot.

And his playoff performance was terrible, but c’mon, it was his first time in the playoffs, against one of the best teams in the playoffs, while playing for an average team. Wouldn’t be the first time someone failed to show up for their first playoff series.

I’d take Z over Froloaf in a heartbeat.

And I don’t see what the big deal was with that Turris shootout goal. A basketball player could have done that move. Probably wouldn’t have scored, but I’m sure he’s fully capable of popping a puck off his skate.

Good call ilb, i’ve been mentioning Gabby’s shoulder for the past 2 games, wondering if it’s bugging him. Oleo had a good retort last night for sure. Hopefully they can figure it out before Thursday’s game, because we really need him to step it up and start putting pucks in nets.

I’ll be baking today, so I’ll be in and out following you guys for the next few hours!

It would really be cool if Humpty Dumpty gets fired *during* 24/7. I’d love to see how that all goes down.

Craps better get their sh*t together. I want to see a competitive Winter Classic. I’d hate to see a OvechCANT vs Crybaby “Game 7 of the semi’s”, or a OvechCANT vs Cybaby “Russia vs Canada at the Olympics”, which both turned out to be disappointing blowout losses for OvechCANT.

carp…last nite on hnic coaches corner don cherry had a good one…it seems he likes dale weise,a winnipeg kid…he said if it was crosby with the “distinct kicking motion” the goal would’ve been allowed.pretty funny,eh?

I gather Carp doesn’t have any opinion on Don Fehr. I think he should be good for NHLPA. It may make the new CBA negotiations interesting, but at least they have somebody with strong will and knowledge to negotiate. Bettman will have his hands full, that’s for sure.

lol Orrsy, i bet if hot doggie lips did it, the league and all the ‘talking head’ experts on versus and elsewhere, would be praising him for his creativity. I guess the only highlights they want are from him, and occassionally from #8

im done with new york. i cant watch these teams anymore. just all a bunch of losers. every new york is the laughing stock. i despise them all. unprepared, uncoached, unaware bunch of losers. biggest losers. i hate every one of our teams. sickening city with sickening teams. losers. piles of crap. losers. dont care about winning.

probably wont see you guys anymore before Christmas….so Merry Christmas to everyone here and happy holidays. i need a break from new york teams…im tired of all of them.

and orr, ive had it up to here with you…i treat you with respect, and then you brag about watching and causing the yankees to lose. Im just tired of new york fans, new york teams, new york owners, coaches, general managers, writers, everything. i hate everything about new york.

fyi, to all my hearts and hugs senders….thank you!!! I never “accept” them on FB cause I hate that they demand all your personal info :) but I appreciate all the sentiments. Hearts and hugs to you back!

Gaborik needs to get going. He is not even close to the form he was in last year. I think he is still injured. If that is the case, he shouldn’t be playing as it will only risk further injury. He has only shown flashes of his ability this season. Prospal won’t make a significant impact unless Gaby is 100%.

the real disturbing part of yesterday’s game was the play of MDZ. I was not in favor of scratching him, but right now I am in favor of sending him down. put Gilroy in the lineup, let him try to QB the power play, and send MDZ down for a couple of weeks to find his game.

When I have kids, and they screw up, you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to plant cocaine in their pockets and call the cops on them, so they can learn their lesson in jail! Then maybe they’ll get their act together!

Oh yeah, Nikky Z is only 26. He is not going anywhere and fits perfectly for the Flyers as a spare scoring wing. The problem with Z (aside from his mental/maturity issues) when he was on the NYR was that he had no help outside of Naslund and Gomez. He was really our only offensive threat when Renney was coach. He still led the team in points (while disappearing when Torts took over).

He’ll do well in Philly so long as they also have Carter, Leino, Giroux, JVK, Richards, Hartnell etc. He doesn’t have to be your best player every night on the Flyers…

Rozy AND MDZ had a tough game – and the important point here is that it was ONE game in four that they ‘slipped’ I guess – Rozy IMHO had been playing much better in recent weeks.

This was a game that Phily won, but in reality we lost by not really playing very well at all.

Avery was again ineffective – either play him or dont play him – he is never gonna show wether he is valuable or not if he is not given the shot to log some ice time – especially against the Flyers – you know they would spend a lot of time trying to figure out where he is on the ice most of the time.

He’s a kid. It’s a mistake sending him down. That’s a terrible message to send the guy management calls the “future of the team” down to Hartford because he’s struggling.

It’s one thing to do it with a guy like Gilly. I can understand that, because he’s a young guy not getting playing time, which isn’t good.

Sitting him for two-three games is appropriate. He’s only in his second year for crying out loud. Look at Tyler Myers. He’s struggling just the same, and is a -7 with 12 points in 33 games. You wont see them sending him down.

Orr, I think Avery gets a pass because he’s Avery…and because we have him at half price. IMO, he has made the most his opportunities when given them consistently (i.e. ice-time)…Froloaf is far worse…even at 1 year…

Wait, are we talking about the Mike Richards with the Flyers, the one whose career high is 31 goals, whose career high is 80 points? That Mike Richards? Because if he goes into the Hall, they’re going to need a much bigger Hall, because those guys are a quarter a dozen. Because if he goes in, then Adam Graves goes in immediately, and Tony Granato. And Kevin Stevens. The Captain Drury. Scott Gomez. Actually, if he goes in without dramatically improving those stats, then they should just shut the place down.

ilb, here’s my take on Fehr (sorry for the delay). I’ll keep it short. Great for the PA. Bad for hockey. Terrible for the fans. Start planning the next lockout/strike.

Carp, I think NHLPA will have a bit more leverage this time around, regardless whether Fehr is at the helm or not. I dont think many of the small market teams can afford another lockout. Besides, look at the team salaries a few years into CBA. It’s not working. Small market teams may do better within the luxury tax system. But who knows, you could be right. I hope not.

But Mike Richards is also NHL Commissioner of Respect and a solid, Ontario boy. Not to mention a two-way center with a violent streak, just like Hall of Famer, Bob Clarke. Not all about the numbers, Carp.

Geez. I broke the Tyutin rumor last week. I don’t see trading MDZ for Tyutin tho. I wouldn’t be surprised if Slats has his sights set on Filitov either. With a surplus of potential NHL Dmen, I see a deal for Filitov as a strong possibility. I would say both Tyutin and Filitov are in play for the NYR. Especially seeing how the NYR are exceeding expectations. If they make the playoffs, they are absolutely gonna need an NHL ready lefty shooting Dman. These players are very plausable for the immediate future of the NYR.

Maybe Carp can re-post my State of the NHL guest blog from the summer regarding the potential lockout as well.

Weise did make a kicking motion but it was after the puck had clearly left his boot and was on its way into the net. It was a great redirection but he just had to give that extra kick. I think technically it should have counted.

For instance: what if a player has a great redirect off his boot or it just goes off his skate and goes in then he celebrates with a kicking motion? Would that goal not count?

The look on his face after they disallowed the goal was priceless.

Good fight with Chumpcillo. I love how he realizes he’s going to have to drop the gloves every game with the Rangers after going after Gaborik last year.

I caught HBO’s 24/7 last night, and really liked it. I haven’t seen a behind-the-scenes look at hockey like that before. I would LOVE to see something like this about the Rangers, to get that extra view of the players’ personalities, how they hang out, etc. An epic Torts rant would be icing on the cake.

To touch on what Noonan said, the goal should have been allowed, IMO, since the puck was clearly deflected, rather than kicked in. It was clear the kicking motion occurred after the puck had left his skate. Unless I am misinterpreting the rule, a skate deflection is now considered a legal hockey play. How Toronto saw that replay and determined the puck was kicked into the net is beyond me. I think it’s more of a case of the NHL lacking gall.